Letters to the Editor 12/05/2017

TIMES-TRIBUNE READERS
/
Published: December 5, 2017

Share This

Speak up, victims

Editor: I hope that I might be a little helpful and supportive.

When I was a 25-year-old college student back in the 1970s, I was badly sexually harassed by a female college professor who had a lot of power over me. It finally ended when another female college professor insisted that I tell her what had obviously been bothering me. It ended when she confronted my harasser and told her that she would report her to the authorities if she did not stop.

Like most of my “fellow victims and survivors,” I had been too ashamed and embarrassed to tell anyone about it for the past 40 years aside from my wife — until now. I recently found out that a lot of people do not take seriously the sexual harassment of a male by a female seriously. Recently, I have sometimes been mocked, teased, bullied and insulted about it. As many others find out, I have sometimes been called a “liar” and told that “you made the whole thing up just to get attention, publicity, pity and sympathy from others.”

I urge all victims of sexual harassment to immediately report it to someone in a position of authority. One of the biggest regrets of my life is that I did not. Please do not repeat my mistake. These perpetrators need to be stopped.

Please do not repeat my mistake of blaming myself for it. Victims did not do anything to bring on that predatory behavior or to encourage it.

STEWART EPSTEIN

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK

Intemperate culture

Editor: The top story on the cover of the Nov. 30 Times-Tribune said allegations of sexual misconduct against former NBC personality Matt Lauer is “the latest in wave of allegations sweeping through Hollywood, the media and politics.”

If we can go back to last year to include President Trump, we can include former President Clinton. His behavior two decades ago has been a recent news item.

Why not go back to the dawn of the sexual revolution? These are the consequences of a culture with no sense of the virtue of temperance — look at illegitimacy rates, a million abortions yearly and rampant sexual harassment.

Social justice, whatever that means concretely beyond justice under law, is the only proclaimed cardinal virtue in popular culture. Can we expect temperance to be a valued virtue in the pop culture that Hollywood dominates?

Theater people were known to be loose as far back as Greek and Roman times. President Lincoln was taken across the street after he was shot so that he did not die in a theater.

THOMAS JACKSON

PECKVILLE

Clinton overlooked

Editorial: According to a member of the Times-Tribune editorial department, the newspaper’s Nov. 30 front page was devoted to prominent people with current or fresh allegations of sexual abuse and thus former President Bill Clinton would be eliminated due to the fact that allegations against him had been addressed by the media years ago.

A Nov. 20 article in the Telegraph, a British newspaper, reports that Clinton reportedly faces fresh allegations of sexual assault by four women after he left the White House in 2001.

Consequently, it was a major oversight that Clinton is not featured among the group on the front page.

KIRK MATOUSHEK

SIMPSON

Opportune blindness

Editor: It was shocking to learn that Matt Lauer, an anchor at NBC’s Today show, was fired for sexual misconduct.

It must be the “Weinstein effect” that has caused so many victims to come forward. Quite a few actors and politicians have faced similar accusations, including Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore and President Trump.

Why is it appropriate for Moore and Trump to deny these charges and go on like nothing has happened? Shouldn’t there be a standard for processing these claims? When did our country turn a blind eye to morality and justice for the victims? Is political gain the only issue here?

Perhaps it is time have a frank discussion on what is and isn’t appropriate behavior. Otherwise, the next generation will become victims of our own ignorance.

GARY WESKERNA

SPRINGVILLE,

SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY

Harmful prejudices

Editor: Recently, a progressive Catholic preacher who advocated the broader acceptance of the LGBT population in the Catholic faith drew criticism.

One of the critics — a medical professional — cited the astronomical levels of depression and anxiety in our community. These conditions do not arise out of sexual orientation or gender identity alone. Sometimes, these arise from the notion that being on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender spectrum is inherently “evil” or “perverse,” and that we do not deserve love and respect.

Extend a hand to a young LGBT person languishing in homelessness and poverty and recognize their position as being caused by a culture that denies them love and respect for their identities and their humanity.

It has been reported that intimate partner violence increases in gay and lesbian relationships. It is true that our community does not appropriately address domestic violence. But that is our issue to discuss among ourselves.

Opponents cannot use that against our humanity, or our right to love and respect. How can opponents argue against our perceived immorality, but turn away from the fact that 50 years ago, religious convictions deemed spousal rape to be “moral,” because wives were considered the property of their husbands?

There is something cataclysmically infantile about the fear and resentment that others possess for LGBT individuals. Much of that is borne from religious conviction, but some can be traced to the simple fact that much of our society is terrified of feeling anything. It cannot be claimed that others love us when they blatantly admit their fear, yet fail to do the excruciating task of holding themselves accountable for their prejudices.

That is the only way for us to move forward.

CASSANDRA COOPER

WAPWALLOPEN,

LUZERNE COUNTY

We welcome user discussion on our site, under the following guidelines:

To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here.

Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions.

DICKSON CITY — State Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Saturday, recalling the discrimination Irish immigrants faced when they came to the United States, blasted the prejudice that exists today.
(read more)

Car insurance rates are at an all-time high nationwide and rates are rising fast in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton area, according to a recent study by The Zebra, a car insurance comparison marketplace.
(read more)